


Whispers Across Time and Space

by Nehszriah



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Blood, F/M, Happy 12/12 Everyone!, Human Doctor (Doctor Who), Human Twelfth Doctor, Smut, Time Lord Clara Oswin Oswald, and ends in even more of one, and that's only the first chapter, marshcap, pre-first-checkpoint-on-Duolingo-levels of Scottish Gaelic, starts in the middle of a mystery, this got super out of hand
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-13
Updated: 2020-12-12
Packaged: 2021-03-10 16:34:53
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28040244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nehszriah/pseuds/Nehszriah
Summary: She calls herself different things over the years, across her many faces: Liz, Mel, Sarah Jane, Martha, Victoria, Clara... but always she refers to herself as ‘the Doctor’. She travels about time and space in the Type-40 TARDIS that she stole from her home planet, from the very people she grew up wanting to be and grew into despising. Many, many beings come across her path, or she comes across theirs, and they are all so very different, reminding her of how brilliant the galaxies are......until she runs into someone she’s already run into before......except she can’t run into him again. It’s impossible... because he’s already dead.[Human!Twelve/Time Lady!Clara AU]
Relationships: Twelfth Doctor/Clara Oswin Oswald
Comments: 6
Kudos: 35





	Whispers Across Time and Space

**Author's Note:**

  * For [marshcap](https://archiveofourown.org/users/marshcap/gifts).



> 7667 words; takes place in the late 1950s or early 1960s; inspired by several drawings from Marshcap; I’M SUPPOSED TO BE WORKING ON OTHER THINGS BUT VALENTINA (amongst other entities) IS BAD FOR MY FOCUS; this is only one of the many options I have on the plate for this specific thing, but hey ho let’s go; not entirely certain how long this is going to end up being but at least I’ve got this out here (and I have, like, two other chapters I want to get out at least so hopefully that’s doable); not related to BlindedKnight’s story (which I am purposely not reading to keep things from crossing over), so please do not think this is copying bc I began this almost as soon as I saw the original sketch

The Doctor let her fingers drag over the TARDIS console as she mused over the events of the past few days. She had run into this man, John Smith, when she had stopped in Regency Era London, and there was something about him that she couldn’t shake. Time itself seemed to move differently around him, but she couldn’t figure out why or how, because he died at the hands of a rogue Judoon before she could figure anything much further.

That was it. The eccentric scientist was buried, though why was it taking her so long to lift the sadness of the loss from her memory?

They all were losses, she knew, but sometimes the impact of the people she traveled with on her life was greater with some than with others. For the short time they had been together, there had been a _profound_ impression made, and it was beginning to unnerve her. She had lived over two thousand years and yet…

The ship thrummed—yeah, maybe a brooding holiday was going to be best for her so that she could get it all out of her system.

With that, she piloted the space-time ship back to the same little planet, on the same tiny island, to a coast and sky made of grey. It was the same general area that Basil had been from, or close enough, and she knew that if she spent some time there, she’d be able to shake it from her system to the point that the next person she whisked away wouldn’t feel as though they were living in a dead man’s shadow. That was important to her, after all.

The wind was brisk as she walked along the rocky shore. On another day the sky would be blue and brilliant and clear, though today it was varying shades of medium-to-dark grey. Salt from the sea wafted through the air and terns squawked in the distance. She sat on some rocks, wrapped in a yellow-and-grey tartan blanket, staring out at the water with a wistful expression on her face. It did feel good to brood, on occasion, and at least this time her excuse was a good one.

A barking noise eventually filtered in from the distance, powering over the sea spray, and she glanced down the beach, seeing a man and a dog walking along. As they approached, the Doctor tried to see what sort of beings she was dealing with. The blue-grey deerhound happily loped up to her, attacking her in playful licks and distracting her as its owner joined them.

“Idris, heel.”

The dog whimpered and attempted to curl up on the Doctor’s lap, failing disastrously due to its long body and tall limbs. This allowed the Time Lady to see the human for the first time properly: pale skin, salt-and-brown hair that was longer on the top than the sides, an equally-greying beard, piercings in one ear, and a patch covering his right eye. His left eye, steel-blue and sharp, stared at the Doctor as her jaw nearly dropped at the sight of him.

“Do I know you?” he asked, voice burring the exact same way.

The exact. _Same_. **_Way_**.

“Clara Oswald,” the Doctor said, brain capacity having finally caught up. Yes. That was the name she was using for the moment. She stood and held out her hand, which the man looked at, then up at her face, before deciding to keep his hand in his pocket. “Just passing through—didn’t mean to worry you.”

“Basil J. Smith,” he replied. He glanced around. “How’d you get here? I don’t see a car or anything. The ferry’s already gone; did you get left behind?”

“Not exactly.”

He considered that for a moment, then looked out at the ocean. “It’s going to rain soon. You should get indoors.”

“How do you know?” she asked. He held up his hand and counted down from five. When he got to one, he pointed out to sea, which emitted a low rumble of thunder. “Ah. There a pub anywhere?”

“Not for another several miles.” Basil looked at the woman, so small—especially when covered mostly by his dog attempting to wrap around her legs—and shrugged. “Come on.”

“Wait, what…?”

“Idris likes you, and she doesn’t like just anyone; now come on before I leave you here to get drenched in the rain.”

The Doctor watched for a moment as Basil began to continue walking along the beach. Idris realized her human was leaving, and jumped up, bounding away so as to scout the area in front of them for wee crabs and the odd tern that wandered from the flock. The Time Lady followed the man as they traveled the beach, then went onto the grass as they climbed up a hill towards a tiny cottage sitting sturdily against the elements.

‘ _How…?_ ’ the Doctor pondered as they walked along in silence. How was this man so eerily similar to the man she had just encountered? The John Smith whom had died in her arms (yes, it had been rather dramatic), who she saw get placed in the earth as one final sign of respect, had no family to carry on his traits. He died in her place because he was alone and empty and knew that it was something that could be done to give someone else a chance. The Judoon that had been excommunicated from its platoon was looking for something to take all its frustrations out on, and John had made the sacrifice that allowed the Doctor to get herself and the small gaggle of children that had been attempting to tag along to safety. After the platoon collected their mess, she had found him on his last breaths, crumpled in a dingy alley with a broken back and collapsed lung.

If John Smith died nearly a hundred-fifty years ago, then why was he leading her into a cottage, holding open the door as the first drops of rain fell from the sky? She kept herself on-guard; whether she needed to whip out the Venusian Aikido or the sonic screwdriver, she was uncertain of, though still kept herself sharp as she entered the dwelling.

It was cozy—space enough for Basil and Idris. One room, the inside was a smooth flow of clutter that evolved from kitchen to workspace to sleeping area. Basil’s face turned pink as he cleared off one end of a table, moving papers and what appeared to be rudimentary technical equipment.

“You’re a scientist?” she wondered, taking the blanket from her shoulders and draping it over the back of a chair. “What is your field?”

“Chemistry… Chemical Engineering is a better term for it… or at least, that’s what I was.” Although his turtleneck jumper seemed thick and warm, he shivered slightly as he went to the fireplace to throw more logs on the glowing embers. “I sort of… do my own thing now.”

“Why’s that?”

“A reason related to why I’m sure you didn’t see many oranges as a child,” he said plainly. Basil went and filled a kettle with water from the pump and placed it on a hook in the hearth, where tiny flames were just beginning to lick the bottom of its fresh fuel. The rain was going in earnest outside now, and the fire would be welcome. “Not always forgiving, academia, with its ivory towers and pompous attitudes.”

“I can relate.” She sat down at the table and took a nearby piece of paper, taking a cursory glance at the scribbles. “You’re studying whalesong?”

“Not whalesong—something else.” He got a biscuit tin out of the cupboard and placed it on the empty bit of table, along with two chipped mugs, his expression suddenly a mixture of curiosity and impressed. “You’re a marine biologist?”

“I’m a bit of this, a bit of that—people mostly refer to me as ‘ _the Doctor_ ’ because of it.”

“Well then, _Doctor_ , maybe your fresh set of eyes can shed some light on the situation.” He handed her some other notes before preparing the teapot. “The patterns are all wrong to be whales, and too in the open to be Soviets; what is making these noises?”

“When did you first hear them?”

“During the War—I was on a submarine for an assignment and every so often when we were in the North Sea these patterns would shake the entire vessel.”

“That made it sound like you weren’t even in the Royal Navy.”

“Army; they needed my services.”

“…and what services would an Army squaddie offer a naval vessel?”

“Hunting rats.”

The silence that hung between them weighed heavily—the Doctor knew he wasn’t going to go further unless he wanted and it was no use to pry. Basil went to the kettle and, after nearly burning his hand, brought the steaming container to the teapot and finished preparing tea. He fumbled slightly as he placed the lid on the pot and brought it over to the table.

“What do you think, Doctor?” He went into an ice chest and took out a bone, which he softly tossed underhand across the room at Idris, who happily began gnawing on it. “ _Blasta?_ ” The dog barked happily in reply—it was tasty indeed. “ _Tha caileag snog_.”

The Doctor blinked—why did that not translate? Did she even hear a good version of what he said? The rain was fairly strong… maybe it was messing with the translator microbes? Was that even the language he was speaking? She knuckled her ear and shook her head slightly.

“What’s the matter?”

“Must be the rain—thought I heard something,” she only half-lied. The Doctor picked up a couple papers and placed some hair behind her ear, trying to keep it out of her face as she read and he poured tea. They were readouts of, yes, what at first looked like varying measures of deep-diving whalesong far beneath the ocean’s surface, but to the Time Lady… she recognized it as something much more than that.

“…you’re the same…”

The Doctor glanced over and saw Basil staring at her… no, at her ear. He touched his own piercings and it clicked together in her brain—they had holes in almost the exact same places.

“I wouldn’t say that, but we’re close,” she said. “From my perspective you’re very like a man I just recently knew.”

“Where is he?”

“Not wandering around if that’s what you’re thinking.” She watched as his left hand went back to being curled around his mug, while the right hand reached out, hesitating. He gave her time to swat his hand away, making eye contact all the while as he went to touch her ear.

Except, as he did, a spark between them caused both to jerk away from the other. It was not static electricity, or even emotional… but it was _a spark in time_. The Doctor inhaled sharply—her suspicions were becoming increasingly more terrifying for reasons other than he was nearly a foot taller than her and had no other sentient being around for what was likely miles.

Time was moving differently for him.

It was moving like it did around John Smith, when he first tried to take her hand to kiss it as he had become completely, utterly enamored with her.

With the way it was moving, it was nearly as though their entire encounter was not only a fixed point, but something that was not only to happen again, but already occurred.

“What was that?” he asked, looking at his hand. He reached out again and touched the Doctor’s ear, this time without any repercussion. “How did you get these?”

“How did you get yours?”

“It’s best I not answer that.”

“…then consider it the same for me.”

Another spark flit between the two of them, this one being unmistakable even to the human. They both went back to their tea and the calculations, their hands returning to their mugs when at rest. Another piece of paper and the Doctor’s brown eyes grew wide.

“Sea Devils.”

“Come again?” Basil wondered.

“You’ve got Sea Devils on your hands, much earlier than I first expected them to be active in the area,” she replied.

“Don’t you mean manta rays?”

“I mean what I mean.” It thundered outside and she took the papers to the fireside, where there was more light for her to read by. She sat on the rug and spread everything out on the floor, showing Basil as he came to join her. “Sea Devils can be nasty, tricky folk when it comes to them first waking up from hibernation. These patterns you’ve been tracking—they correlate with something more mechanical than whales, bigger and more organic than the Soviets, and much, much more terrifying.”

“There aren’t many things more terrifying than an angry Soviet submarine right now,” he reminded her. She brushed the comment off—he knew nothing.

“There are if you broaden your horizons a bit,” she said. She shuffled through the papers before holding one up. “Where’s the companion piece to this one? Where are the measurements?”

“They’re, uh, right here.”

Basil handed the Doctor another piece of paper and she grabbed a pencil that had been laying on the floor, using it to scribble vigorously. He watched as she wrote out equations he’d never seen before, amazed at the speed at which she filled up the page. Giving her another piece of paper, he was awestruck at the sort of problems she was cultivating from his data in ways he had not seen since university.

“…are you human…?”

“Why would you ask that?”

“…because I’ve known some brilliant men and women, absolutely gifted with stuff like this, but you,” he pointed at part of the first page, “did this in your head.”

She paused at that. “Can’t you?”

“Not in three seconds while priming the next five equations.”

Ooooh, she _really_ liked this one.

“I’m a Time Lady from the planet Gallifrey in the constellation Kasterborous,” she smirked. “I’m a space-and-time traveler who goes around in a ship that’s shaped like a police box, fixing things along the way. I help where I can, because it’s the kind thing to do.”

“…then why are you here, helping me? I’m not a good man.”

“Something tells me that you try, and that’s what counts, isn’t it?”

Basil laughed and scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. “A bloody alien thinks I’m good—you hear that Idris?” The dog looked at him for a moment before going back to her bone. “Space-woman or not: you think that these waves that have been disrupting the North Sea for nearly twenty years is some of those Sea Devils? What are they?”

“Aquatic lizards from the dawn of time,” she explained.

“Then tell me: how early are these blokes?” he wondered. She shrugged.

“Roughly? Twenty to thirty years. I tend to be a bit fuzzy in regards to those days thanks to the near-constant mind games I was in. At least I had a dishy assistant at my job, so it was more than worth it.”

“ _You_? Had a job here on Earth?”

“Why not? I was stuck here for a tic and the lad they assigned to hand me test tubes looked good in flared trousers and frilly shirts.”

“…wait… another scientist…?”

“You could say that.” She grabbed a piece of paper that had a sea chart on it, thinking it was better to not talk of old flames of days gone by… or was it yet to come? “Which one of these islands are we on?”

“This one.” He poked the map. “You _really_ don’t know where we are, do you?”

“Of course I do—wanted to make sure the map did first,” she said. She calculated out the triangulation and made a mark in the middle of an underwater plateau. “It’s there.”

“The Sea Devils’ base?”

“Exactly.” She stood and went for the door, grabbing her blanket as she walked. “We can get to my ship in only a moment, and once we’re there, it’ll be a straight shot.”

“Doctor, we can’t.”

“Of course we can; you’re curious about why there’s sustained activity, aren’t you?”

“Yes, but…!”

The Doctor opened the door and the storm outside began to blow in, pouring rain all over her and wind howling through the cottage. She closed the door and exhaled heavily; her clothes were now soaked.

“I told you: _we can’t_ ,” Basil reminded her. “It’s not just a wee bit of wet outside—that storm needs to pass before we’ll be able to do anything. Why do you think I brought you here instead of letting you walk to the village? You’d only be halfway by now.” He rummaged through a trunk and took out some clothes, which he offered her. “Go ahead and change so we can dry those clothes of yours.”

The Doctor silently accepted the offer and went behind the screen set up by the toilet, shielding herself from him as she changed. Although it would be unlikely she would get sick from leaving on wet clothes, as she knew humans were apt to do, it would definitely be more comfortable waiting for everything to dry while it was off her body. She pulled on the thick jumper and worn trousers and found their oversized fit to be rather comfortable. There was a belt hanging from a hook on the wall that she used to hold up the trousers, as her hips only helped her so much in that regard.

“More tea…?” Basil asked as she emerged from behind the changing screen.

“Please,” she replied. The Doctor began to hang her clothes up on pegs by the fire as her host made himself busy with the teapot. She sat back down on the rug next to the hearth and allowed the warmth radiating from it to wash over her, warming her skin and drying her hair. Her mug appeared by her face; Basil was standing next to her.

“I almost should let you keep that jumper,” he said sheepishly, handing her the mug. He sat down on the rug as well, watching the way the flickering light of the fire played on her face. “You… erm… look good in it.”

“It’s almost falling off my shoulders,” she commented. It thundered outside again, light filling the room for only an instant. The piercings in Basil’s ear glimmered and the Doctor was reminded of why they looked so odd on him: _they were Gallifreyan in style_.

What was the universe trying to tell her?

As she drained her mug, the Doctor tried not to look at Basil as they sat together in silence. The storm outside raged without signs of stopping, at some points even getting louder than the fireplace or Idris and her bone. She put down the empty mug when the tea was gone; she genuinely felt much better, but she wasn’t going to tell him that.

“I have to confess: you more than look like someone I used to know,” she eventually said, breaking their mutual silence. “It almost feels like you _are_ him… though… I can’t imagine a way to make it so.”

“…what do you mean?” he wondered. “I am me.”

“Yes, but it feels as though I’ve met you before, and not because of a simple case of déjà vu. I can’t explain it, but it feels like things are both very different for you, while still being the same as him. It’s impossible… _you’re really_ _impossible_. There has to be some explanation, even if it is as though the dangers of being a time-and-space traveler are catching up to me… but how…?”

“That’s not fair,” he decided quietly. “I don’t know who this other man is, but don’t hold me to the standards of a ghost. Is that all I am to you?”

She looked at him—she didn’t know.

“Tell me, Doctor: can a ghost do this?” He picked up her hand, so small in his, and bowed his head as he kissed her knuckles, freezing when he realized the gravity of what he had done. “My apologies; I am lonely out here and you don’t deserve to fall in the line of that fire.”

“I know what loneliness can feel like; do not apologize to me, _my Impossible Boy_ ,” she said. The Doctor put her pointer finger knuckle under Basil’s chin and lifted it, bringing his face up to look at her again. “What’s this ring you’re wearing? Isn’t that a human sign of marriage?”

“My parents’ rings—nothing more,” he claimed. He moved it with his thumb, showing that it was really two bands, one with a brilliant gem in it. “They are no barrier.”

Lifting his free hand, Basil’s fingertips brushed the Doctor’s cheek, dragging down her jawline, then neck, before moving across her collarbone to her shoulder. He marveled at the sight of her, completely taken in.

“If you’re such a clever alien, then why do you look so human…?” he wondered.

“You look like us, is more like it,” she explained. She took his other hand in both of hers and kissed the tips of those fingers, making sure to not break eye contact. He moved that hand to caress her face again and—his heart pounding in his chest—he leaned in to kiss her properly.

Everything seemed to explode in a dizzying array of emotions and pheromones. As the kiss deepened, the Doctor leaned into Basil’s touch, their embrace allowing them to express their hunger and desire. Idris saw what they were doing and hid under a blanket to go to sleep; she wasn’t interested. The human and Time Lady kissed for what seemed like the first second of eternity, only parting because Basil still needed to breathe.

“ _Tha thu cho_ _àlainn_ ,” he whispered against her lips. Opening his eye, he found that the Doctor was now solidly straddling his lap, looking at him with what seemed like the entire universe behind her own gaze. It weighed on him, causing him to frown in concern. “Who put that look in your eyes?”

“What look?” she giggled. He brushed some hair from her face and tucked it behind her pierced ear.

“That look that screams thousands of screams, that knows that the battles are long-past despite them feeling too fresh on your soul? I’ve seen that look before… it usually is not attached to someone with such… such…”

“What is it? Tell me.”

“ _Life_.” He nuzzled the crook of her neck, sending a chill down her entire body as his beard and lips went across her skin. “Doctor…?”

“Yes, Basil?”

“How does your species… erm…” he brought his lips to her ear, “… _make love_ …? Are you able to…?”

“Much the same way yours does,” she replied airily. Her fingers wound their way through his hair as she could feel him pulse beneath her, his breath on her skin and hands on her hips. “Is that an offer?”

“They would be the only stars or wonders I can give,” he said. “You found me a broken, cast-aside wreck of a man, all but exiled long ago for being unexplainably different. Then you show up on the beach, instantly understand, and I don’t know what you did to me but,” his hands slid under the hem of the jumper and onto her bare waist, “I crave you beyond comprehension. Yes, it is an offer, but that’s because it’s all I have: to bring you to my bed and worship every inch I can.”

“Then let’s change the venue, shall we?” She popped up on her feet and held out her hand; she would accept as long as he did.

Basil stood and took hold of the Doctor, lifting her into the air and a renewed kiss. He was fit for someone who had greying hair and long-ago been a solider, and was able to carry her to his bed with ease. They parted just long enough for their belts to get unbuckled before she was pulling him atop of her as she laid down on the unmade bedding. Kissing and fumbling, they rutted slowly against one another, allowing the pressure to build gradually. Steam began to let out and Basil reached inside the trousers that normally were on him, finding things very familiar as he felt between the Doctor’s legs.

“If it weren’t for the fact I saw you invent high-level maths before my eye, I’d say you were trying to make a fool of me,” he purred in her hair. She gasped deeply as his thumb found her clit—at least he knew that particular part worked the same. His fingers explored and found she was wet, using her to moisten his thumb before working her more, then using two long fingers to sink into her.

After a few moments of stalling and using his hand as a sufficient distraction while sucking the crook of her neck, Basil decided to divest them both of his trousers and move onward. He knelt upright and held her legs as he drove himself deep within her. A pleased moan escaped from her parted lips; the sensation was marvelous, more so than with some of the other faces she’d been, whether it while with another being or alone. Her back arched as he recalled ancient memories of movements last made in days long past—thrusting shakily—his cock throbbing as he slid in and out, shagging her as well as he could and knowing he wouldn’t manage long.

As the Doctor writhed in pleasure on the bed, she noticed something rather peculiar about the peticular liaison. She knew her guard had dropped relatively quickly (and it usually did when it came to humans she took a fancy to, though never like this), and that there were plenty of other things they could have been doing as the sea’s fury rattled the windows and helped electrify the very air around them, yet this… there was something so completely, entirely _right_ about it that she didn’t even care. The mystery of him was astounding, how he even existed, let alone how he was pouring his soul into her. It felt nearly as though she was being shagged by time itself, and considering how well she knew time… it was a feeling that made her head spin and hearts pound. She gripped the sheets beneath them as thunder drowned them out, the long, rolling rumble hiding the fact she came in a lengthy shiver, glad so much buildup had happened _before_ the trousers came off.

Basil made a loud, nearly anguished sound as he spilled himself in the Doctor, his energy and vigor spent. He stayed there, pressed between her legs, for a moment before sliding himself out and attempting to fit next to her on the bed. A bit of maneuvering and he was able to free the blanket from underneath them, covering them up to their waists as they laid together in an attempt to collect themselves.

“I’m glad I took a walk this afternoon,” he murmured gently. With his arm draped over her midsection, he watched her stare at the ceiling, the glow from the fire making her appear to be glowing. “What are you thinking about?”

“A lot of things, honestly, but mostly about two things.”

“…go on…”

“One: the Sea Devils. What are they doing and how did they get to the bottom of the North Sea? Is it even them and not just their technology, either acting out independently or in the wrong hands?”

His face fell at that. “Oh.”

“…you’re the second thing, you dolt,” she smirked, turning her head to look at him. She kissed the tip of his nose, then poked at it with her forefinger. “What an ego—you sure you can handle having me around?”

“I think it might be better for me in the long-run, having someone to push back against,” he said. “It’s not like the dog has any opinions, nor can she pick equations out of her head, nor many other things that are extremely useful _and_ attractive.” He leaned in and pressed a kiss to her neck—leaving a little nibble behind—as his hand found its way to one of her breasts and teased the nipple. “This is the best evening I’ve had in a long while, and I need to thank you.”

“Thank me properly after the storm and we take care of the Sea Devil business… _then_ we can tackle something as complicated as that.”

They spent the remainder of the storm lavishing one another in attention and whispering naughty things. By the time the storm had cleared, the Doctor’s clothes were dry and she changed back without the privacy of the toilet screen.

“Keep it,” Basil insisted when he saw her place the jumper down on the trunk. “I want that to be yours.” He picked it up and placed it in her arms. “It looks better on you.”

“…only because you shagged me in it,” she teased.

“Despite what just transpired, I’m not all about sex you know,” he replied. He gently popped the jumper over her head and covered her in the garment. “Now let’s head out to your ship—I assume it’s nearby?”

“Follow me.”

After letting Idris out so she could wander while they were gone, the Doctor led Basil over the hilly, rocky terrain of the island, until they came across where the TARDIS was parked. He stopped a few paces away, giving her and the ship an incredulous look.

“That is your space-time ship? Looks more like some sort of snogbox.”

“Would you complain either way?”

Shrugging at that—because she was right in that he wouldn’t—Basil followed the Doctor through the TARDIS door and into the console room. He looked around the space in puzzlement, taking note of the tiers and many bookshelves and cozy places, before nodding resolutely.

“Smaller on the outside, eh?”

“That’s a new one,” the Doctor smirked. She threw the lever that moved them to the exact coordinates of the disturbance and threw Basil a flirty glance. After this was done, she was _definitely_ offering for him to move in for a bit if he wanted—and he could even bring the dog. She grabbed her sonic shades from the top of the console and placed them on her forehead as she watched the ship navigate to their new destination… not even a hitch.

After checking that everything had gone according to plan and they weren’t out in a trench instead, the Doctor led Basil over to the door and they exited the TARDIS, stepping into a large cavern, met by only the _plip plip plip_ of water dripping in the vast silence.

“Oh…” was all Basil could say for a while. He looked around as the Doctor scanned their surroundings with the sonic shades, taking it all in. “This is where it’s coming from?”

“As close as the ship can get,” she replied. “She’s a precise thing, the TARDIS, but she also won’t go close to danger unless absolutely necessary.”

“…then where do we go from here?”

“There’s a hum from,” she pointed, “that direction. Even hearing at your best it’s out of your range at this distance.”

“No… I can feel it,” he scowled. “This usually preceded the waves in the sub…”

“…and…?”

“…it reminds me of the feeling of walking past a steel foundry.”

She raised an eyebrow. “That’s a feeling in of itself?”

“If you come home with me, we can try it sometime,” he replied, giving her a wink.

“Ha—you don’t want to bring an old lady like me home. I could have been your Messiah.”

“Bit pale and beardless for that, so they say.”

Yes… the moment she got him back on the TARDIS she was going to shag his bloody brains out against the staircase, _then_ offer him all of time and space.

“Just wait and I can show you a hell of a trick.”

The Doctor began to move towards the source of the hum, Basil following close behind. Pools of water made the trek more dangerous than it should have been, with wet stones barely submerged while all around them was enough of a dip to do anything from twist an ankle to swallow them whole. With stalactites up above, stalagmites below, and—curiously—boulders strewn about, they had a veritable maze to maneuver through.

“Are you sure we’re underwater?” Basil asked.

“Of course—it’s like a grease trap in a sink—we’re in an air pocket. Sea Devils often seek these out so they can remain close to water, but also breathe via their lungs out of others’ sight.”

Just then, Basil inhaled sharply and, pulling the Doctor with him, ducked behind a stalagmite. He put his hand over her mouth and peeked quickly, letting go of her soon as he glanced back.

“Sorry,” he whispered, face going pink. “Habit.”

“What’d you see?”

“Sea Devils. I think.”

“Bipedal lizard-blokes dressed in nets?”

“Then I’m not crazy.”

“Not in regards to that,” she said. The Doctor poked her head out just long enough to confirm their suspicions. Five of them, about a hundred meters away. “Hmm… interesting.”

“Think they’re dangerous?”

“Possibly yes, possibly no; it would depend on who is in the party and why. It’s difficult to tell at this distance, even _with_ the shades…”

Just then, the Doctor froze as she felt the point of a fishing spear against her back, She put her hands up and carefully glanced over at Basil; he was doing the same.

“Who are you?!” a voice demanded from behind them.

“Curious travelers,” the Doctor said. “We are scientists who noticed a signal of sorts coming from around here. It is only natural to wish to investigate.”

“Are you not a female ape?” another voice wondered. “Females are not often scientists.”

“Then what _are_ they?” Basil asked, sounding nearly offended for the Doctor’s sake.

“ _Warriors_ ,” the first one said. “We shall not be fooled by your charade, ape—the Council shall deal with you.”

“Council…?” Basil wondered. The spear poked him more thoroughly in the back and he walked forwards, moving along as their captors commanded.

“I haven’t seen an ape in so long,” the second voice marveled. “Do you think they’ve advanced any since we went into hibernation?”

“Knowing how the apes were when we left? It’s probably only a recent advancement that they’ve started wearing clothes.” They approached the other five Sea Devils, who were all extremely surprised to see them. “We found some spies!”

“ ** _Apes…?_** ” one of the new Sea Devils marveled. “They don’t have the technology to get down here.”

“I first heard sounds coming from this place while in a submarine vessel,” Basil explained. “Don’t discount us just yet.” He was prodded again, his captor huffing in displeasure. “Is this the Council?”

“No… we’re here to take a survey of the area around our nest, seeing how gentle the past few thousand years was on our home,” one of the other Sea Devils replied. “I think we should let the apes go; they don’t look armed.”

“Even a rock is a weapon to an ape, and we’re surrounded by rocks,” one of the captors reasoned. He noticed the Doctor reaching over to touch Basil’s arm and swatted at it with his spear. “No touching!”

“I’m scared,” she lied, putting on her best imitation of terror. The Doctor then clung to Basil, who put his arms around her protectively, only to use the contact where the pads of his fingers brushed over her neck and jaw to initiate a psychic link.

‘ _They don’t know I’m not human_ ,’ she reiterated to him. ‘ _We can use this to our_ _advantage_.’

‘… _of course you can be in my brain_ ,’ he replied. He held her close to his chest as he continued the guise of shielding her. ‘ _I’ll keep their attention on me best I can so you can figure out how to best get us out of here_.’

‘ _I’m counting on it_.’

“Why bring a female if she can’t even protect you?” one of the Sea Devils wondered. He waved the tip of the fishing spear by her head, which prompted Basil to swat it away.

“If women are the ones who do the protecting, then why weren’t you afforded any while you wandered about out here?” The Sea Devil bristled at that—he _knew_ Basil was perceptive enough to tell there was not a female among them, and it showed. “You’re nothing more than idiots being told to get out of the way. I wonder if they even care should you not come back.”

“Is that a threat?!”

“Not at all; only an observation.” The Doctor saw how deeply Basil’s words cut… it looked like things were going according to plan.

“Let’s take them to the Council,” one of the five without spears said. “They shall know what to do with them.”

“Yes! The Council!”

The Doctor and Basil were poked along as they were led by their captors and their cohorts through the cave and towards a large building that was fit into the space afforded them. Through eerily silent corridors and empty halls they walked, before coming upon an occupied space. About twenty Sea Devils—males and females—were chattering along in argument, pausing when they noticed the survey team had brought back unexpected guests.

“What is this?!” a female Sea Devil asked. The largest of their number, she was clearly the most powerful, as all others fell silent when she began speaking. “You were meant to fetch rock samples, not _apes_.” She took one whiff of the air and cringed. “They stink of mating—how did you even manage this?”

“They were skulking around, looking to start a fight,” one of the spear-armed ones declared. “What should we do with them?”

“Throw them in the ocean for all I care,” the Powerful One scoffed. “We have more pressing issues at-hand.”

“…like figuring out if the cave is still stable enough to support the nest?”

The Sea Devils all looked at the Doctor, whose face was set firmly into a scowl. Stepping forward, the Powerful One regarded her carefully, curiosity overtaking her.

“How would you know that?” she wondered aloud. “Apes keep their females docile and weak and as items for mating and finding food. You seem as though you are none of those things.”

“Even if I were an ape as you say I am, I’m not exactly going to say that’s all their women are good for,” the Doctor replied. “They’re capable of much… more than you and I can begin to fathom.”

The Powerful One’s face twisted in confusion. “You are not an ape…?”

“How do you think we got down here? I’m a Time Lady from the planet Gallifrey—I _know_ you’ve heard of us. Most semi-intelligent beings have.”

“You talk large for one who is so small. Why would a Time Lady mate with an ape and then feel the need to intrude in our business?”

“…because your nest here has been setting off tremors for at least… what… ten, fifteen years? The apes aren’t generally capable of such a feat… at least they haven’t for that long if my dates are correct.”

The Sea Devils all stared at the Doctor, some marveling at her statement, some concerned by what her words meant. Most of them began muttering amongst themselves before the Powerful One raised a hand, silencing them again.

“You have proof?”

“At my cottage,” Basil said. “I’ve been taking measurements for years on my own. Otherwise, I felt it while underwater before. My superiors said it was whalesong, since it was too big to be another submarine vessel, but I didn’t believe them.”

“…and you were correct to do so; apes really are infuriatingly stupid.”

“This one isn’t,” the Doctor added. The Powerful One scoffed.

“What, your pet? Your toy? Tell me, Time Lady: why do you put such faith in him? He is merely a trinket to your kind… was he merely adequate in pleasuring you?”

“At least I can be pleasured, unlike you from the sounds of it,” she fired back. The other Sea Devils behind her began to panic ever so slightly—the Powerful One was angry.

“Doctor…?” She reached out and Basil took her hand in his, initiating mental contact. ‘ _She’s just trying to rile us, isn’t she?_ ’

‘ _Precisely. She is correct in that many Time Lords would merely manipulate and use you, but we both know you’re too clever for all that nonsense_ ,’ she replied. A deep, unnerving rumble shook the floor beneath them—shit.

“What did you do?!” the Powerful One sneered. She glared at Basil—it was the ape’s fault, she could feel it.

“We didn’t do anything!” he retorted. “We’re the ones passing by, only curious! Why would we do anything to undermine you? _I didn’t even realize you existed_ until earlier today!” The rumble died down and everyone was surer on their feet.

“I want the ape locked away, the Time Lady frisked and sealed alone,” the Powerful One commanded. “We’ll get out of them their secrets soon enough—it was likely they covered up the smell of their crimes with the vulgar stench on them now. Hurry and deliver them to the guardswomen, so that you can give us your reports.”

‘ _They’re mostly unarmed—we can run_ ,’ Basil thought as he touched the Doctor’s hand.

‘ ** _Mostly_** _doesn’t mean **completely**_ ,’ she reminded him.

“ _Tha seo dona_ ,” he cursed aloud. One of the spear-wielding Sea Devils jabbed the pointed end of the weapon towards him. He grabbed and yanked on the spear, causing the lizard to lose his footing and fall, in turn allowing Basil to take control of the weapon. He took and hurled it into the Council, hitting the Powerful One in the stomach. He turned towards the Doctor, getting ready to push her off before attacking the other Sea Devil.

“Basil! I…!”

“We need to get out of here Doct—!”

Just then, the end of the second spear poked through Basil’s chest, causing his eye to go wide and blood begin to dribble from the corner of his lips. He looked down at it, then at the Doctor, whispering,

“ _Run, you clever girl, and remember_.”

After a second of her own terrified stare, wishing it weren’t true, the Doctor did as she was told, turning on her heel to run. She dodged guards and slid to temporary safety more than once, reaching the entrance to the nest just as the alarms were going off. Another low rumbling sound preceded the ground beginning to shake—the air pocket was starting to collapse. She avoided stalactites that began coming loose from the ceiling, jumped over ponds with no bottoms, and ran as fast as she could possibly manage.

There! The TARDIS sat amongst the rubble and falling debris, the cloister bells sounding in a panic. Full-on sprinting, the Doctor ran towards the ship, the door opening and closing for her so she could head directly to the console and jettison them into the safety of the time vortex.

She leaned on the console, feeling the shift of the ship into familiar waters. It began to drift, away from the cave-in and away from what was now a grave.

_Damn!_

Once she knew they were safe, she laid down on the stairs and did something she hadn’t done in a long while: _cried_. She cried for John the Regency Era scientist, for Basil the cast-aside soldier, and for the fact she was never going to know. The tears on her face were more than simply ones of sadness, but ones of frustration and regret.

How was this human—otherwise a very ordinary man—able to have existed twice? There had been no doubt about it… John and Basil were the same not because of a frighteningly long list of similarities, but because they were the same person. The Doctor wracked her brain in an attempt to figure out how this could have been—what could have happened in the universe to allow such a thing to happen—when something caught her off-guard.

**_-THNK-_ **

The Doctor sat up and looked at the console—it felt as though they hit something in the vortex. She went to the monitor and saw that it wasn’t hitting something more as landing somewhere. A quick glance at the diagnostic readouts and she raised an eyebrow curiously.

“What was that…?” she wondered aloud. Feeling she needed to be prepared, she made sure she had her sonic shades _and_ screwdriver, grabbed her messenger bag, and wiped the remaining tears from her cheeks—there would be time for mourning later.

The Doctor opened the door stepped outside, only to be knocked to the ground by the force of a nearby explosion. Scrambling to her feet, she went to get back in the TARDIS, only to find that the doors had closed and locked behind her. She pounded on the door—there was a war going on, and she needed to get out of there.

“Come with me if you want to live!”

_That voice…!_

The Doctor turned around to see Basil holding out his hand towards her. His eyepatch and beard were the same, yet his jumper had been replaced with a tactical vest and a long jacket that reached down to his knees. She placed her hand in his and another explosion went off near them, causing him to pull her close.

“I don’t know how you got here, but welcome to the front line,” he said. Flipping up the eyepatch, he looked at her with two eyes this time, both the same clear blue-grey as she had already seen twice before.

She was going to get to the bottom of this mystery if it was the last thing she did.


End file.
